Removing Dross

 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40 

  

  I like to periodically examine my life and living space and remove what is useless, take away the waste material or unnecessary--the dross from my life. 

  There is clutter that can build up in our garage, closets, and throughout our homes. And there is also mental clutter that clogs up the arteries of our thinking. Relationships, habits, activities that are unhealthy should also be regularly examined and the dross removed. 

  I always feel much better when I remove needless clutter and free up my living space inside my home. It takes so little time to let useless things accumulate and requires effort to then remove them. 

  Yet once I remove the unhealthy, the useless, the waste material from affecting body, mind and soul, the cleansing effect is wonderful. 

  Water that is unmoving can quickly become stagnant and poisonous. It is the same with clutter, unhealthy habits, and harmful relationships. We must be willing to remove the dross and let go of those things that needlessly get in our path, keeping us stagnant and from moving forward. 

  When we clean out the closets in our house and in our mind, we not only have a sense of accomplishment, but it also frees up our living space and allows us to think and see things clearly. No more junk hiding out of sight but still in fact taking up space, no more thinking fogged up by worry and dread over things beyond our control and solely belonging to God’s provision and prerogative alone. 

  I encourage you to examine your life, both inside and out, and ask God to help you let go of worthless things that have been holding you down and clogging up your life. Whether material things, old hates and grudges, or long held habits that must go, let the dross fall away and find your life purer within and without. 

  Prayer: Dear Lord, we hold onto things too long, and place too much importance on the useless instead of what’s truly important. Remove the dross from our lives in whatever form it takes. Amen. 

 

 

Stand Fast

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:13

My friend Bob has spent many years in a nursing home. He was put there while only in his 50’s. The youngest resident perhaps ever to reside there. Now in his sixties I’m amazed at how he has not lost his fighting spirit. He told me how people there kept telling him to give up, that he would never be able to use the left side of his body that was made all but useless by strokes. They told him he would never get out of there, but he said he will never give up. That God has a purpose for him.

I can tell you when I hear that my lack of courage and faith convicts me. I get discouraged over the stupidest things. I always get my thinking back on track again, but it is surprising how little can knock me over at times.

The verse above admonishes us to ever be ready for battle, and having done everything that depends upon us–to stand fast and trust the rest to God. All we have to do is stand our ground. The battle belongs to the Lord and He will give us the victory.

Troubles come around and around. That is the way of life. My friend Bob suffered strokes that nearly took his life decades ago. He regained most of his functionality and kept going. But the last series of strokes paralyzed the left side of his body and put him in a wheelchair and nursing home. Yet his mind and will is strong and he reminds me that God has kept him on earth for a purpose and I readily agree.

God did not save Bob’s life just on those occasions when strokes almost took him out. Years ago when we were younger men we went fishing at a local lake. My friend Bob was backing his boat and trailer down the ramp to the water while I stood on the dock. Suddenly the Lord told me to pray. I thought it was the strangest thing as I had prayed over our fishing trip the night before. I had also prayed for God to keep us safe that morning. And here God was telling me to pray again. I prayed. Suddenly the boat careened and hit the ramp shoving the boat up into the truck cap which stopped the truck from rolling down the ramp. I was in shock when I went around to the driver’s side of the truck and saw my friend had fallen out of the open door onto the ground, and was nearly run over by his own truck if the boat had not gotten stuck in the truck cap stopping the vehicle.

My friend and I often talk about that event and how God saved his life through prayer. God uses prayer to make things happen. To many people Bob’s life is depressing. Living in a nursing home day after mundane day. Yet God cared enough about him to not only help him survive those many strokes, but also from being run over by his own truck. As Bob says: God has him here for a reason.

God has you here for a reason as well. You may have difficult daily circumstances to deal with, we all do in different ways. Bob’s circumstance is surviving a mundane existence in a nursing home with a disability, but he’s standing fast. Wherever God has put you and whatever the circumstances are you standing fast?

Prayer: Dear Lord, our boat gets rocked by the lightest of winds and we feel unsteady on our feet. But help us, like my friend, to stand fast no matter the weather around us or what circumstances overtake us. Amen.